Sanjay Singh Jumps Srinagar Guesthouse Gate, Farooq Abdullah Blocked

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and MLA Imran Hussain were on Thursday prevented by Jammu and Kashmir police from leaving the government guesthouse in Srinagar and addressing the press. Singh had arrived to hold a press conference and organise a sit-in protest against the detention of AAP Doda legislator Mehraj Malik under the Public Safety Act (PSA) following multiple FIRs.

Singh shared videos on X showing him attempting to scale the guesthouse gate to meet National Conference president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, who had come to greet him. In the footage, Abdullah says, “They have become the masters,” while Singh responds, “They don’t allow us to meet anybody, they don’t allow us to move out. Whatever they can do, they are doing.” Singh described the situation as “very sad” and questioned whether it reflected dictatorship, noting that Abdullah, a multiple-time Chief Minister, was not allowed to meet him.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the legality of the police action, asking under which law a Rajya Sabha member had been detained and whether a preventive detention order had been issued. He also questioned Malik’s PSA detention, suggesting that any issues should have been addressed through the Assembly Secretariat or the Speaker of the House.

According to PTI, the police had locked the gates of the guesthouse to prevent Farooq Abdullah from meeting Singh. Abdullah said Singh had not come to disrupt law and order and expressed concern that the elected government appeared sidelined by the Lieutenant Governor.

Singh says, “He is (former) MP, several times been the CM and I am also an MP ... what is the problem? What is the crime? Why are you not allowing us to meet.”

(With inputs from PTI)